Single Idea 7057

[catalogued under 18. Thought / C. Content / 7. Narrow Content]

Full Idea

I suggest that intentionality is grounded in the dispositionalities of agents. Dispositions are intrinsic to agents, so this places me on the side of the internalists and against the externalists.

Gist of Idea

Intentionality is based in dispositions, which are intrinsic to agents, suggesting internalism

Source

John Heil (From an Ontological Point of View [2003], 18.4)

Book Reference

Heil,John: 'From an Ontological Point of View' [OUP 2005], p.214


A Reaction

I think this is a key idea, and the right view. The key question is whether we see intentionality as active or passive. The externalist view seems to see the brain as a passive organ which the world manipulates. If the brain is active, what is it doing?